Office of Fellowship Training - Career Counseling and Mentoring

• NIMH Memorial Awards Program
• Career Development Awards
• Mentoring Issues
• Online Resources
• Libraries
• Mandatory Training
• Optional Training and Education
• Future Employment

NIMH Memorial Awards Program in honor of Drs. Richard J. Wyatt and Seymour S. Kety

The goal of this award program is two-fold. First, we would like to commemorate the scientific achievements and contributions of distinguished NIMH-IRP investigators, and second, to identify and facilitate the career growth and development of outstanding IRP postdoctoral fellows and clinical associates. The call for nominations goes out each year in early spring with a June 30th deadline, and awards are presented at the Scientific Retreat in September. 

Career Development Awards

To accomplish its goal of training future generations of mental health researchers, the NIMH Office of Extramural Research has long been among the leading NIH Institutes in supporting National Research Service Award (NRSA) training and Research Career Development programs (K-awards) . NIMH is committed to training that prepares junior, early-to-midcareer, and, to a certain extent, more established scientists, to conduct multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research on mental health and mental illness.

Mentoring Issues

We assist fellows in all aspects of their training. If research goals change during your fellowship, contact any staff member from the Office of Fellowship Training for a confidential consultation regarding your options.

Post-doctoral fellows can contact the Office of Fellowship Training if they would like to be a mentor. Our office is often contacted by students who are available for volunteer positions, and we encourage post-doctoral IRTAs, Visiting Fellows and post-baccalaureate IRTAs to notify us if they are interested in developing mentoring skills.

The Office of Intramural Research has published A Guide to Mentoring and Training in the Intramural Research Program at NIH. 

Online Resources

NIH researchers may access a variety of alert services, databases and other useful websites. Here are some of the most popular:

• Cancer.gov 
  NCI's comprehensive cancer website
• Combined Health Information Database (CHID) 
  CHID is a bibliographic database providing titles, abstracts, availability information and education resources, as well as links to online versions of government health publications and contact information for national and international rare disease patient support organizations.
• Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP) 
  CRISP is a searchable database of federally funded biomedical research projects conducted at universities, hospitals and other research institutions.
• Entrez 
  Molecular biology data and bibliographic citation from the NCIB’s integrated databases, including DNA sequences
• ETOH 
  NIAAA’s alcohol and alcohol problems database
• Search Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM) on PubMed 
  The link on this site automatically limits your PubMed search to the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) subset.

Libraries

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library 
  The NIH Library is an open-stacks biomedical research library whose collection and services support NIH programs. Open to the public on a self-service basis, the library also offers a one-hour orientation on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 2-3pm. Appointments are not necessary. Call 301-496-5611 for more information. Orientations in Spanish or for large groups may be arranged by calling 301-496-1080.
• National Library of Medicine 
  The world’s largest biomedical library collects materials in all areas of biomedicine and health care also contains one of the world’s finest medical history collections of old and rare medical works. To learn more about the library’s training classes and online searches, contact the library at 301-594-5983 (local and international calls), or 888-FIND-NLM (888-346-3656) if you are calling from out of state.
• Montgomery County Public Library System 
  The Montgomery County Public Library System offers information, including reference and Medline searches. While the downtown Bethesda library is undergoing renovation, the closest branch is at:
  6400 Democracy Blvd.
  Bethesda, MD
  Phone (240) 777-0922
• PubMed 
  PubMed is a web-based retrieval system developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the National Library of Medicine. It is part of NCBI's vast retrieval system, known as Entrez. PubMed is a database of bibliographic information drawn primarily from the life sciences literature. It contains links to full-text articles at participating publishers' web sites as well as links to other third party sites such as libraries and sequencing centers. PubMed also provides access and links to the integrated molecular biology databases maintained by NCBI.
• Library of Congress 
  The Library of Congress is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with nearly 128 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include more than 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 57 million manuscripts.

Mandatory Training

• The NIH requires all laboratory personnel to take the Laboratory Safety Course . In addition, Bloodborne Pathogens , Radiation Safety , Animal Care and Use Training  may be required depending on your work environment.
• The NIH Equal Employment Opportunity Office requires every employee (FTE and non-FTE) to complete Prevention of Sexual Harassment  training.

Optional Training and Educational Opportunities

NIH offers a variety of resources for fellows interested in pursuing additional training and employment.

• The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) 
  The Foundation for Advanced Education in the Sciences (FAES) encourages scientific research and education and promotes communication among scientists. In addition to offering graduate-level courses, it also encourages fellows to learn the art of teaching by becoming an FAES instructor. Call FAES at 301-496-7976.
• Center for Information Technology 
  To improve your computer skills or learn new applications, contact the Center for Information Technology at 301-594-6248.

Future Employment

Once you have completed your fellowship training, various NIH organizations will help you find employment.

• NIH Training and Development Branch
  At the NIH Training and Development Branch, you can find information about classroom and online courses through the NIH/U.S. Department of Agriculture Graduate School Training Partnership, workshops, and certificate programs for NIH employees. The NIH Training and Development Branch is located at: 6120 Executive Blvd., Suite 100, Rockville, MD 20852. Phone: (301) 496-6211
• The Work/Life Center (WLC) 
  The Work/Life Center (WLC) offers individual career counseling, workshops, a resource library and a referral service. WLC is located in Building 31, Room B2B47, 301-435-1619.
• The National Center for Biotechnology Information 
  The National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the National Library of Medicine, creates and maintains several biomedical databases and offers training on how to use them. Call 301-496-2475 for more information.